“Concrete jungle where dreams are made of. There's nothing you can't do. Now you're in New York. These streets will make you feel brand new. Big lights will inspire you. Let's hear it for New York.” (Jay-Z, 'Empire State of Mind')

When you think of New York City, a lot of things come to mind: Concrete Jungle, Skyscraper National Park, The Big Apple. When you think of apartment hunting in New York City, one thing comes to mind: Pounding Headache! Have no fear; we've outlined all the information you’ll need to make the search as quick and painless as possible! So get into your Empire State of Mind, grab your MetroCard, and let’s go!

Having trouble with Craigslist New York? Can't find that special apartment for rent on Apartment Finder or Zillow? Apartment List is here to help!

The Bare Essentials to Call NYC Home
What's it Gonna Cost? No matter where your apartment hunt takes you, there are a few things we recommend you have handy. Of them, the most important has to be some cold, hard, cash. New Yorkers should expect to spend ¼ of their annual income on rent. Landlords like to see that your annual salary is at least 40 to 50 times the cost of your monthly rent.

Be Prepared: To get into just about any place, you’ll need at least first month’s rent and security deposit in the form of a cashier’s or bank check. (New Yorker's aren't very trusting when it comes to personal checks!) A letter from your current employer stating your salary and time of employment as well as a reference from your previous landlord don’t hurt, either. If you don’t make a certain amount of money, you may need to call in a guarantor. However, this varies building to building. A credit check will also be required, but those obtained on your own will not be accepted. Be prepared to spend between $25 and $100 getting one.

Getting Your Priorities Straight: Chances are that you, like most New Yorkers, probably won’t have everything you desire in your immediate vicinity. Are you most concerned with the size of your new space? Commute? Prioritize the things that are most important to you before you set about your hunt.

Do I Need a Broker? Using a broker or an apartment locator is often recommended when renting in New York City (especially in summer and early fall – NYC’s most difficult times to rent) and while brokers can charge a fee ranging from one month’s rent to 15% of one’s annual rent, in certain circumstances it may save you both time and money in the long run. Many brokers have access to rentals that aren't listed elsewhere, so if you've hit a dead end in your apartment search, it’s probably worth a phone call. Just keep in mind that the shorter the lease, the more expensive they come. Most brokers deal in long leases, so make sure you really want to live in your selected spot before committing.

Leaving Expectations at the Door: Usually, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Be conscious of bait and switch scams found on Craigslist and elsewhere. Trust your gut. This same rule applies to the cost/size ratio.

One of the city's iconic architectural feats, the Empire State Building is a favorite spot for locals, tourists, and "Sleepless in Seattle" diehard fans.

Radio City Music Hall, designed in the 1930s in Rockefeller Center, once showed only G-rated films to the public. It's image changed drastically when it was selected as the location for the premier of the Harry Potter series.

Originally gifted to the USA by our French neighbors, the Statue of Liberty welcomes newcomers to NYC as fervently as it once did our ancestors arriving in the States. While Lady Liberty is arguably the most famous national statue, surprisingly few New York locals have actually visited her in person.

Manhattan

Many people move to the Big Apple with images of Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda, and Samantha’s “Sex and the City” pads floating in their heads. Manhattan is completely doable if you look in the northern regions of Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood. These neighborhoods more budget-friendly. The only drawback to living ‘round these parts could be your commute downtown (assuming that’s where you’ll be winning your bread). Thirty-minute commutes to the subway train are standard fare, so you better bring some comfy walking shoes. Whoever said a little exercise was a bad thing anyway?

Another neighborhood to check out is the “new” Upper East Side, in the 80’s close to York Avenue. Has a plethora of dive bars.

Your New York options are truly endless! We suggest pointing yourself towards the East Village for an amazing nightlife, the West Village for cobblestone-street cuteness and adorable sidewalk eateries, Midtown for easy access to the best theater in the world, the Upper East Side for endless museums, or the Upper West Side for strolls through Central Park with your pooch.

Queens

If you’re a foodie at heart, Queens may just be the borough for you. It has often been said, “I ate my way around the world and never left Queens!” The main thing to keep in mind if you decide to go to one of the outer boroughs is commuting time. Obviously, the closer you are to Manhattan, the shorter your commute will be. And if you end up in the outer-reaches of a far-out borough, make sure you are close to public transportation.

Brooklyn

Brooklyn has their spacey apartments. The farther east or south you go, the further your dollar stretches. Just keep that commute we warned you about locked in your mind.

The Bronx

Ahh, the Boogie-Down Bronx! The South Bronx is home to Yankee Stadium, so the area is undergoing a lot of positive development. Amazing deals and lifestyles can also be found in the Northeast Bronx in the neighborhoods of Pelham Parkway and Co-cop City. The apartments will be spacier, and you’ll ultimately get more bang for your buck...not only in rent, but also bodegas, grocery stores and restaurants. When it comes to having and housing a car, The Bronx is the most user-friendly neighborhood around. It's not uncommon to find street parking, and the parking garages are a fraction of what you will pay in other boroughs.

Staten Island

If you are looking to stay with the suburb experience while still calling yourself a “New Yorker”, we would recommend living in Staten Island. It can only be reached by a bridge from Brooklyn (i.e. a car is a must), or a 20-minute ferry ride that will take you to the bottom of Manhattan. The North Shore is home to the hoods St. George, Tompkinsville, Clifton and Stapleton, and is the most urban of the island.

Big City Living

Once you get to NYC, there are a few things you should know to help you make you look like less of a transplant.

Getting Around Town:

Ditch the car. In NYC you can get just about anywhere using public transportation and your own two feet. Owning a car in NYC is more of a liability than a convenience: with limited parking (running as high as $400 a month), perpetual bumper to bumper traffic, insurance, gas, and all of the potential tickets from NYC’s extreme parking laws, you’re better off selling your car to help pay the rent.

The left side of the subway escalator is for those rushing, stay on the right side if you’re feeling like a casual stroll.

Invest in a good pair of shoes for walking. You’ll be doing a lot of it.

Carry with you a quality collapsible umbrella. It rains a lot in NYC and, not to beat it into the ground, but you’ll be doing a lot of walking.

Now that your unlimited MetroCard has been put to good use, let’s reconvene! New York’s 5 boroughs are home to over 8 million people speaking over 800 languages. And no matter the borough you choose to call home, we’re sure you’ll bring something unique and amazing to the table. Get your apartment fondue skewers.

February 2019 New York Rent Report

Welcome to the February 2019 New York Rent Report. New York rents declined over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the New York rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the state and nation.

February 2019 New York Rent Report

Welcome to the February 2019 New York Rent Report. New York rents declined over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the New York rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the state and nation.

New York rents decline sharply over the past month

New York rents have declined 0.6% over the past month, but have increased moderately by 2.4% in comparison to the same time last year. Currently, median rents in New York stand at $2,120 for a one-bedroom apartment and $2,520 for a two-bedroom. New York's year-over-year rent growth leads the state average of 1.5%, as well as the national average of 1.0%.

Rents rising across cities in the New York Metro

Throughout the past year, rent increases have been occurring not just in the city of New York, but across the entire metro. Of the largest 10 cities that we have data for in the New York metro, 8 of them have seen prices rise. New York as a whole logged rent growth of 1.5% over the past year. Here's a look at how rents compare across some of the largest cities in the metro.

Looking throughout the metro, Hoboken is the most expensive of all New York metro's major cities, with a median two-bedroom rent of $2,620; of the 10 largest cities in New York metro that we have data for, Newark and Albany, where two-bedrooms go for $1,410 and $1,100, are the only two major cities in the metro to see rents fall year-over-year (-0.3% and -0.1%).

Union City, Rochester, and New York have all experienced year-over-year growth above the state average (7.5%, 2.8%, and 2.4%, respectively).

Other large cities nationwide show more affordable rents compared to New York

As rents have increased moderately in New York, a few similar cities nationwide have also seen rents grow modestly. Compared to most other large cities across the country, New York is less affordable for renters.

New York's median two-bedroom rent of $2,520 is above the national average of $1,170. Nationwide, rents have grown by 1.0% over the past year compared to the 2.4% increase in New York.

While New York's rents rose moderately over the past year, many cities nationwide also saw increases, including San Francisco (+2.7%), Atlanta (+2.5%), and DC (+2.2%).

Renters will generally find more expensive prices in New York than most similar cities. For example, Houston has a median 2BR rent of $1,020, where New York is nearly two-and-a-half times that price.

For more information check out our national report. You can also access our full data for cities and counties across the U.S. at this link.

City

Median 1BR price

Median 2BR price

M/M price change

Y/Y price change

New York

$2,120

$2,520

-0.6%

2.4%

Newark

$1,190

$1,410

-1.1%

-0.3%

Jersey City

$1,600

$1,900

0.1%

1.9%

Union City

$1,430

$1,710

-0.9%

7.5%

White Plains

$1,760

$2,100

0.8%

1.8%

Hoboken

$2,200

$2,620

-0.3%

2.2%

West New York

$1,220

$1,460

-0.1%

0.1%

Hackensack

$1,430

$1,700

0.5%

-1%

See More

Methodology - Recent Updates:

Data from private listing sites, including our own, tends to skew toward luxury apartments, which introduces sample bias when estimates are calculated directly from these listings. To address these limitations, we’ve recently made major updates to our methodology, which we believe have greatly improved the accuracy and reliability of our estimates.

Read more about our new methodology below, or see a more detailed post here.

Methodology:

Apartment List is committed to making our rent estimates the best and most accurate available. To do this, we start with reliable median rent statistics from the Census Bureau, then extrapolate them forward to the current month using a growth rate calculated from our listing data. In doing so, we use a same-unit analysis similar to Case-Shiller’s approach, comparing only units that are available across both time periods to provide an accurate picture of rent growth in cities across the country.

Our approach corrects for the sample bias inherent in other private sources, producing results that are much closer to statistics published by the Census Bureau and HUD. Our methodology also allows us to construct a picture of rent growth over an extended period of time, with estimates that are updated each month.

About Rent Reports:

Apartment List publishes monthly reports on rental trends for hundreds of cities across the U.S. We intend these reports to be a source of reliable information that help renters and policymakers make sound decisions, and we invest significant time and effort in gathering and analyzing rent data. Our work is covered regularly by journalists across the country.

We are continuously working to improve our methodology and data, with the goal of providing renters with the information that they need to make the best decisions.

Renter Confidence Survey

Apartment List has released New York’s results from the third annual Apartment List Renter Satisfaction Survey. This survey, which drew on responses from over 45,000 renters nationwide, provides insight on what states and cities must do to meet the needs of the country’s 111 million renters.

"New York renters expressed general satisfaction with the city overall," according to Apartment Li...

Apartment List has released New York’s results from the third annual Apartment List Renter Satisfaction Survey. This survey, which drew on responses from over 45,000 renters nationwide, provides insight on what states and cities must do to meet the needs of the country’s 111 million renters.

"New York renters expressed general satisfaction with the city overall," according to Apartment List. "Interestingly, ratings for New York vary widely across categories such as public transit, safety, and local taxes."

Key Findings in New York include the following:

New York renters gave their city a C+ overall.

The highest-rated category for New York was public transit, which received an A+ score.

The areas of concern to New York renters are state and local taxes (F), affordability (D) and quality of local schools (D).

Millennial renters are moderately satisfied with their city, giving it an overall rating of C+, while renters who are parents were less satisfied, giving it a C grade.

New York did relatively well compared to other cities in the state, including Buffalo, Syracuse and Albany, which all received scores of F.

New York earned similar scores to other similar cities nationwide, including Philadelphia (C+), Los Angeles (C+) and Miami (C+).